Intra is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of the municipality of

Verbania Verbania (, , ) is the most populous ''comune'' (municipality) and the capital city of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is situated on the shore of Lake Maggiore, about north-west of Milan and ab ...

, in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

, located in a small

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

. It is important for its port on

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

and attendant tourism. In Intra in 1905 was founded Zust, an Italian car manufacturing company, by engineer Roberto Züst, an Italian industrialist of Swiss origin, In 1909 was founded a rowing club, Canottieri Intra. The main church is a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

dedicated to San Vittore. The basilica di San Vittore was rebuilt during the first decade of the eighteenth century.

History

Intra's area has been inhabited since

prehistoric times Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

. The oldest known population living in the area were the

Lepontii The Lepontii were an ancient Celtic people occupying portions of Rhaetia (in modern Switzerland and Northern Italy) in the Alps during the late Bronze Age/Iron Age. Recent archeological excavations and their association with the Golasecca cul ...

.,Direzione comunicazione istituzionale dell'assemblea regionale, Comuni della provincia del Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Consiglio Regionale del Piemonte, 2012 then it was added to the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

by Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

in the first century AD. During

Middle Age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

was under the control of Conti di Biandrate, after the comune of Novara and then

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

. Intra was an autonomous ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'', in 1927 were merged to it Arizzano Inferiore, Trobaso and Zoverallo, in 1929 Unchio, then in 1939 Intra itself was merged with Pallanza to form Verbania under the

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

n. 702 of 4 April 1939.

Notable people

Giorgio Andreoli Giorgio Andreoli (between 1465 and 14701553), named also Mastro Giorgio Andreoli or Mastro Giorgio, was born in Intra, Italy, Intra, on Lake Maggiore, and died in Gubbio, where he spent most of his life, in 1555. He is considered to be one of th ...

(c. 1465 – 1553), an important potter in the Italian Renaissance. *

Luigi Capello Luigi Capello (14 April 1859 – 25 June 1941) was an Italian general, distinguished in both the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12) and World War I. During the Italo-Turkish War he served in Cyrenaica and took part in operations near Derna, comman ...

(1859–1941, an Italian general, fought in the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

(1911–12) and World War I. * Daniele Ranzoni (1843–1889), an Italian portrait painter * Guido Sutermeister (1883-1964), an Italian engineer and archaeologist. *

Paolo Troubetzkoy Prince Paolo Petrovich Troubetzkoy (also known as Pavel or Paul; ; Intra, Italy, 15 February 1866 — Pallanza, 12 February 1938) was an Italian sculptor of Russian origin who was described by George Bernard Shaw as "the most astonishing scu ...

(1866—1938), an Italian impressionist sculptor of Russian origin

Sport

* Sergio Bello (born 1942), an Italian former sprinter * Giambattista Bonis (born 1926), an Italian former football striker. * Paolo Carraro (born 1964), an Italian former sprint canoeist

Gallery

Image:SAN_VITTORE-VERBANIA-INTRA_0424.JPG, The main church, San Vittore Image:Intra_imbarcadero_liberty_VERBANIA_-_INTRA_-DSC_0431.jpg, Vecchio Imbarcadero Liberty Image:Intra, tramway.jpg, Old tramway station

References

External links

Former municipalities of the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Populated places on Lake Maggiore {{Verbania-geo-stub